Intrastate Conflict Program Advises on Governance in Africa

The Belfer Center's Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution (ICP) traveled to meet with leaders and officials in Rwanda and Malawi in January to discuss the 2008 Index of African Governance.

ICP Director Robert I. Rotberg and Rachel Gisselquist, research director for the Index of African Governance, first met with government officials in Rwanda. The government of Rwanda initiated and organized a large seminar in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, for officials, NGO leaders, and donors to explore how the Index of African Governance could most effectively be used to strengthen governmental performance and improve everyday life in impoverished Rwanda, according to Rotberg.

The Index of African Governance is an annual report that ranks 48 sub-Saharan African nations on governance according to 57 different variables, from safety and security through rule of law to various health and educational attainments. The Index was first published in 2007, and the 2008 report appears as a web document and in book form under the title Strengthening African Governance.

Rwanda, which ranked eighteenth in the most recent Index, wants to improve its score and better the lives of its inhabitants and attract foreign investment, Rotberg said. The Index is structured so that countries can clearly see areas they might improve.

"In Kigali, the eighty or so Rwandans at the all-day seminar were interested in the Index's many messages for their future. They also pushed back vigorously in cross-examining the Index and its assumptions," Rotberg said.

In Malawi, where ICP Program Manager Katie Naeve and Editorial Associate Emily Wood joined them, Rotberg and Gisselquist met with the Index African Advisory Council over the course of two days. The Council is made up of African academics and practitioners who oversee the Index quality.

Rotberg and Gisselquist also met with parliamentarians in Lilongwe, Malawi's capital, and showed how Malawi, which ranked eleventh, might improve its scores by strengthening governance and reducing poverty.

"We had a very interesting discussion with the Women's Caucus in parliament, which invited us to present the Index results, specifically those related to gender, Gisselquist said. "These women also shared with us their concerns and priorities. We talked a lot about education, health care, and clean water, and about the particular challenges of communities in peri-urban areas. It was a very useful discussion."